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Former South Africa fast bowler Allan Donald has said that Pune Warriors fast bowler Ashok Dinda has the attitude and skill to compete for a berth in the Indian team

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Apr-2012Former South Africa fast bowler Allan Donald has said that Pune Warriors fast bowler Ashok Dinda has the attitude and skill to compete for a berth in the Indian team. Dinda is currently Warriors’ joint leading wicket-taker, along with Rahul Sharma, with eight wickets in the IPL.Donald, Warriors’ bowling coach, said that Dinda is the pick of the Indian fast bowlers in the IPL this year. “Of all the Indian bowlers I have seen, he is right up there,” Donald told . “We all want to stack up the numbers [wickets] but there is a patient process to follow and that for me will make him a big-time contender in the Indian team.”Since his debut in 2010 against Zimbabwe, Dinda has played seven ODIs and three T20Is for India, picking up five wickets in each format. He played in the Asia Cup before the IPL and is in the India A squad to tour the West Indies in June.Donald said that the BCCI should be clear as to what role they want Dinda to play in the future. “Dinda has impressed me with his attitude and skill. The question I want to ask, do coaches see him as a stand-in for the big boys or a potential talent who you can back to do you a job no matter what?” Donald said.Donald, known for an iconic jump in his delivery stride, said Dinda’s bowling action reminded him of himself during his playing days. “I have no problem with his jump and that’s the way he has done it for a while now. It’s not something you see with most bowlers but he [Dinda] reminds me of myself. I too had to get off the ground high enough to snap very hard at the crease.”I love the hang time he gets before he snaps through the crease. The hang time allows him to get into a strong position before pulling the trigger. The action comes naturally to him but the stress on the body is huge so paying attention to his core will be something he will have to work hard on.”Having taken 330 Test and 272 ODI wickets in his career, Donald said he found similarities between a bowler’s action and a golfer’s swing. “Bowling is like a golf swing. It is all about feel and it is complex. There is a lot that can go wrong, if everything is not in-sync. When you are in good form, you have to understand why you are in that sort of form and again it brings me back to the training ground.”

The BCCI has confirmed that they will make a one-time benefit payment to certain former national and domestic players, amounting to approximately Rs 70 crore ($13,050,000 approx), in recognition of their services to Indian cricket

ESPNcricinfo staff12-May-2012The BCCI has ratified a one-time benefit payment to former national and domestic players, totalling approximately Rs 70 crore ($13 million), for their services to Indian cricket. The decision, first announced at the IPL opening ceremony, was confirmed at the board’s Working Committee meeting in Chennai today.

Some players who stand to benefit

• 100+ Tests, Rs 1.5 crore: Kapil Dev, Sunil Gavaskar, Dilip Vengsarkar

• 75-99 Tests, Rs 1 crore: GR Viswanath, Syed Kirmani, Ravi Shastri

• 50-74 Tests, Rs 75 lakh: B Chandrasekhar, Mohinder Amarnath, S Venkataraghavan

• 25-49 Tests, Rs 60 lakh: Erapalli Prasanna, Salim Durani, Maninder Singh

The money will come from the proceeds of the IPL playoff games, BCCI president N Srinivasan had earlier said. “This is a small thank you to those who have done yeoman service to Indian cricket.”The scheme, applicable to players who retired before the 2003-04 season, stands to benefit around 160 cricketers. The payments will be made in seven categories, with the top payments going to players who have played more than 100 Tests. Kapil Dev, Sunil Gavaskar and Dilip Vengsarkar fall under this category, and will receive Rs 1.5 crore ($280,000 approx) each.Other retired Test players will get between Rs 35 lakhs and Rs 1 crore, depending on the number of games they have played. Domestic players who have played 100 and more first-class games will be awarded Rs 30 lakhs, while those who have played 75-99 first-class matches will get Rs 25 lakh each.It is not yet clear, though, whether Mohammad Azharuddin and Ajay Sharma, who were both banned for life on match-fixing charges, will benefit from the scheme.The announcement was welcomed by two India greats, Chandu Borde and Bapu Nadkarni. “Good Lord, it’s fantastic,” said Borde, who led India in one Test on the 1967-68 tour of Australia, when the regular captain Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi was injured and unavailable to play. He played 55 Tests between 1958 and 1969 and stands to gain Rs. 75 lakh.Borde’s team-mate, the allrounder Bapu Nadkarni, said he had been expecting this sort of an announcement for some time now, having pursued the matter with other former cricketers and former BCCI president Sharad Pawar.”To be frank, we have been discussing this with Sharad Pawar for the last two to three years. He had promised us it would be done. I heard after the last meeting of the Board that something was coming,” Nadkarni said. He will receive Rs 60 lakh for his 41 Tests, played between 1955 and 1968.”It was time we got something like this as expenses have been mounting with the price rise and medical expenses too going up,” Nadkarni said. “We are living on what we had saved from our jobs which, you are aware, were not high-paying in those days.”

Patrick Saddler will lead Scotland in the Under-19 World Cup in Australia in August, with Matthew Cross as his deputy

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Jun-2012Patrick Sadler will lead Scotland in the Under-19 World Cup in Australia in August. A fast bowler, Sadler had also lead Scotland in the Under-19 World Cup qualifiers, during the course of which Scotland lost only one game in 14, and finished in top spot in the global category.

Scotland’s squad for the U-19 World Cup

Patrick Sadler (capt), Mathew Cross (vice-capt), Aman Bailwal, Freddie Coleman, Henry Edwards, Nick Farrar, Gavin Main, Tom McBride, Scott McElnea, Ross McLean, Sam Page, Peter Ross, Kyle Smith, Ruaidhri Smith, Andrew Umeed

Top-order batsman Mathew Cross was named vice-captain of the 15-man squad announced by Cricket Scotland. Sadler and Cross have both impressed in the MCC Universities programme so far this season, for Cambridge and Loughborough respectively.Freddie Coleman, a batsman who has played in England’s domestic 40-overs tournament this season for Scotland, has also been included.”We are in an extremely fortunate position with this group, in that we have real strength in depth,” Scotland’s coach, Craig Wright, said. “In particular, some of the younger players have made real progress and forced their way into the squad.”The lads have earned the right to test themselves against the best age-group players in the world, and I believe they have the attributes to give a good account of themselves in the competition.”Scotland will fly to Australia on July 24, and have a week’s preparation in the lead-up to the tournament. Their first World Cup match is against New Zealand on August 12.

Centuries from Chris Gayle and Marlon Samuels set up a comfortable win for West Indies

The Report by Siddarth Ravindran07-Jul-2012
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Chris Gayle and Marlon Samuels both made centuries to power West Indies to 315•WICB

It is a rarity these days for West Indies to enter a series as overwhelming favourites but it hasn’t taken them long to show how much of a gulf exists between them and New Zealand. On the same Sabina Park track on which New Zealand stuttered to 190 two days ago, West Indies bludgeoned 315 in the second ODI. It was a more comfortable win than the 55-run margin suggests, and despite BJ Watling’s enterprising innings, New Zealand never really threatened to pull off a win.Contrasting centuries from local heroes Chris Gayle and Marlon Samuels kept the Jamaican crowd entertained in the morning, as the innings unfolded with the noisy chorus of vuvuzelas in the background.In the blockbuster , the police chief memorably deadpans, “We are going to need a bigger boat,” on seeing the giant killer shark for the first time. International bowlers will have similar sentiments on seeing Chris Gayle walk out to bat. Once again he made a cricket ground seem tiny as he hit nine sixes in another exhibition of his ability to make power-hitting look effortless.With his father, sister and several other family members watching, Gayle destroyed New Zealand’s listless bowling to reach his 20th ODI hundred, a new West Indian record as he went past the great Brian Lara’s tally. It was also his fifth fifty-plus score in six innings since his international exile ended last month.New Zealand’s bowlers were looking to exploit some of the early morning moisture in the track, but their only success was dismissing Lendl Simmons. He fell for his sixth successive score under 20 after returning to the West Indies side, chasing an away-going delivery from Tim Southee in the fourth over. Any hopes of keeping the batsmen under pressure were swiftly and brutally dashed. In the next over, Gayle launched New Zealand’s bowling spearhead Kyle Mills for three sixes over mid-off.Though he repeatedly dispatched the ball into the stands, Gayle’s innings was not all slam-bang. There was plenty of discretion as he regularly let deliveries go through to the keeper or watchfully defended them. When he did decide to attack, his shots were almost always in the V, unlike the Twenty20-era slogger’s preferred thwack to midwicket.After the early punishment, New Zealand’s quicker bowlers adapted their line to Gayle, targetting the middle and leg stump as they managed to slow him down a touch. Still, there were the gentle offerings of an array of part-time slow bowlers for Gayle to feast on. A murderous straight hit off Daniel Flynn took him to 98, and a tickle down to fine leg for four off Kane Williamson in the 30th over brought up his century. He did a celebratory jig, before sinking to his knees with his hands aloft as the Jamaican crowd cheered their biggest cricketing idol.Gayle had plenty of time to go on past his career-best score of 153, but in the 38th over, one of his shots – finally – didn’t carry past the rope, landing instead in the hands of deep midwicket. That only allowed the other Jamaican batting star, Marlon Samuels, to take centrestage.Unlike Gayle’s boundary-filled innings, Samuels’ knock was more about the singles – taking 51 of them, and even pushing Gayle to come back for several quick twos. Though Samuels didn’t maintain as high a strike-rate as Gayle, he wasn’t too far off a run-a-ball. He reached his half-century off 57 deliveries, though he had hit only a couple of fours and a six.Even when Samuels started finding the boundaries regularly, there was a marked difference to the Gayle style – three consecutive cover-driven fours off Tim Southee in the 39th over were all about timing and placement, and little about power-hitting.Two of West Indies’ middle-order powerhouses, Kieron Pollard and Dwayne Bravo, failed to make an impact, and New Zealand managed to shackle the scoring as Samuels slowed down in sight of the century. Samuels scored only in singles in the last seven overs of the innings before finally reaching his first ODI hundred since 2006 in the final over. Despite Darren Sammy’s quickfire 31, West Indies gathered only 33 runs in the final five overs, but the total still proved far too much for the inexperienced New Zealand batsmen.The chase got off to a reasonable, though not explosive, start. Rob Nicol fell early after hitting a couple of boundaries, Daniel Flynn played an edgy innings before departing in the 12th over with the score on 62. New Zealand then lost momentum as Martin Guptill and Kane Williamson struggled to pull off the big hits. When Guptill was dismissed midway through the innings, the asking-rate was nearing eight, and the game looked lost.Williamson and Watling tried to revive the innings through a quick 70-run stand, but though both compiled half-centuries, they had too much to do. Williamson was done in by a full swinging ball from Rampaul in the 37th over virtually ending the contest, though Watling improved his highest score in ODIs for the second game in a row and kept fighting till the end.

Increasingly, it is difficult to dismiss the suspicion that Nottinghamshire’s title challenge is on its last legs and that Warwickshire have one hand on the trophy

Jon Culley at Edgbaston28-Aug-2012Warwickshire 298 for 5 (Westwood 81, Ambrose 64*) v Nottinghamshire
ScorecardPaul Franks claimed three wickets but Warwickshire ended the opening day well placed•Getty Images

Increasingly, it is difficult to dismiss the suspicion that Nottinghamshire’s title challenge is on its last legs and that Warwickshire have one hand on the trophy. Quite apart from the knowledge that Chris Read’s team will be shorn of four of their top six batsmen when these sides meet again at Trent Bridge in the last week of the season, it now looks likely that Andre Adams, the bowler on whom so much of their recent success has rested, will be missing too.Adams, who turned 37 last month, was recalled after missing Nottinghamshire’s match against Durham nearly two weeks ago with a calf injury. However, it was clear during his 10-over opening spell that he was not at his best. He bowled two much shorter spells later and by the end of the second of those he was coming in off a shortened run in clear discomfort. He left the field soon afterwards.Mick Newell, Nottinghamshire’s director of cricket, confirmed that Adams was still troubled by the calf problem and that he feared his season was over.”He has been struggling since our game at Taunton three weeks ago and it isn’t getting better,” he said. “It was a bit of a gamble playing him here but it is a game we have to win so we felt we had to take that gamble. Unfortunately he has had a recurrence and I think that may be it for the season for him now.”Nottinghamshire are also without their left-arm quick, Harry Gurney, while Ben Phillips was ruled out of this match when he went down with a ‘flu-like virus overnight. With Samit Patel on England duty, Nottinghamshire are left with Luke Fletcher, Andy Carter and Paul Franks to share the seam-bowling duties, with Graeme White in as specialist spinner.However, though Fletcher and Franks – both keen to impress, for different reasons – performed well, with Adams ineffective they lacked enough armoury to contain Warwickshire’s strong batting line-up.A partnership of 102 between Tim Ambrose and Rikki Clarke, spanning 30 overs either side of tea against an ageing ball, built on opener Ian Westwood’s valuable 81 to take Warwickshire close to 300 at the close and with Ian Blackwell still to come it would be no surprise on a good pitch if the final total were closer to 400, even if a full quota of batting points might be out of reach.Westwood might have been out twice. He was dropped on 48 low down at first slip by Alex Hales off Fletcher and again on 62 at second slip by Adam Voges off Adams. In matches as critical as this, chances missed are forgiven less easily than ever and Hales, in particular, has not had the surest hands this season.Hales did hold on to one earlier as Fletcher made the first breakthrough by removing Varun Chopra. Fletcher, 23, is a favourite with Nottinghamshire supporters, who always appreciate a trier. A new-ball bowler with natural aggression, he is a broadly built character who plainly does not find it as easy as some to keep off the pounds yet is a handful for most batsmen when he is on song and this was such a day. He finished with 2 for 49 from 25 overs, proving his stamina when he came back for his fourth spell of the day, with the new ball, and almost immediately had Clarke caught behind.Compared with Fletcher, Franks is at the other end of his career. Like Fletcher, he can seldom be faulted for commitment, not least because he is also a Nottinghamshire man and wears his county allegiance on his sleeve. His motivation now is that he would prefer to finish his career there, after 17 seasons as a senior player, rather than move on. Although he has a year left on his contract, he has become peripheral to Nottinghamshire’s plans as they seek to build a new seam attack and he has been told he can speak to other counties.He had taken only seven first-class wickets before this match yet performed impressively, adding three to his score with swinging deliveries. He bowled William Porterfield with one that came back into the left-hander and persuaded another to move enough to trap Westwood leg before, having had Jim Troughton caught behind off an inside edge for 40 the over before.Those wickets threatened momentarily to shift the balance back towards Nottinghamshire. Had Adams been somewhere near his best, it might have been a turning point. As it is, Ambrose, who has hit 11 fours and looked in control, has taken the initiative back and Nottinghamshire’s chances of taking the win they need to stay in contention already look slim.

West Indies and New Zealand qualified for the semi-finals of the women’s World Twenty20 with big wins over South Africa and Sri Lanka respectively

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Sep-2012
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Stafanie Taylor was in fine form with both bat and ball against South Africa•ICC/Getty

Stafanie Taylor led a dominating performance from West Indies in Galle, as they thrashed South Africa and qualified for the semi-finals. Taylor starred in an all-round effort, starting with her offspinners while opening the bowling. She bowled a miserly spell, conceding just 10 runs in four overs and picking up three wickets.South Africa were left reeling at 19 for 6 at one stage, and only a seventh-wicket stand of 46 helped save them from further humiliation. Dane van Niekerk (29) and Shabnim Ismail (16) resisted until they were both run out, and South Africa had to settle for just 70 in their 20 overs.West Indies completed a clinical victory, Taylor remaining unbeaten on 33 with the bat. She was part of an unbroken 71-run opening stand with Juliana Nero, and the pair took just 9.4 overs to seal victory.West Indies captain Merissa Aguilleira said the plan was to expose South Africa’s weakness against spin. “We know that they fancy pace on the ball and like the ball coming onto the bat. We decided to change the normal game-plan and force them to go for shots by using our slow bowlers,” Aguilleira said.She also praised Taylor’s contribution: “Stafanie showed today why she is among the best in the world at the moment and rated among the best women who have played international cricket. She led the way with the ball and came back to finish the job with the bat. She’s a class act and always gives her all for the team.”
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
New Zealand sealed their spot in the semi-finals on a day of one-sided contests in the women’s World Twenty20. They beat hosts Sri Lanka by eight wickets, following a collective bowling effort that set up an easy chase. Sri Lanka chose to bat but were jolted early in their innings, losing opener Yasoda Mendis in the third over. The only signs of promise were the second-wicket stand of 28 between Inoka Galagedara and Chamari Atapattu and of 29 between captain Shashikala Siriwardene and Dilani Surangika for the fourth wicket.But the batsmen only managed a highest score of 14 between them, and persistent strikes from the New Zealand bowlers ensured Sri Lanka were bowled out for 89. Sian Ruck, Erin Bermingham and Morna Nielson picked up two wickets each.New Zealand’s win wasn’t quite as comprehensive as what West Indies managed against South Africa, but it was still fairly clinical. Captain Suzie Bates fell early in the chase but Amy Satterthwaite made an unbeaten 32, supported by Sophie Devine’s 23. New Zealand lost just two wickets and completed the win in the 16th over.New Zealand, West Indies, Australia and England are the four semi-finalists, but the line-ups will be decided on October 1 – the last day of the league games.

Ross Taylor is confident New Zealand will carry on their good form against Pakistan

Abhishek Purohit in Pallekele22-Sep-2012Ross Taylor sat patiently in the back row of seats in the media briefing room at the Pallekele stadium, waiting for Mushfiqur Rahim and Brendon McCullum to finish the post-match press conference of the Bangladesh-New Zealand game. When Taylor’s turn to speak finally came, there were exactly two journalists left waiting to hear from the New Zealand captain ahead of the match against Pakistan, after the others had departed en masse. None of the two was from New Zealand. They aren’t an immensely followed side.That doesn’t stop them from making a mockery of predictions, especially in global events. One of them was that New Zealand would struggle against Bangladesh’s left-arm spinners. A McCullum century later, the focus had shifted to how New Zealand would combat the Pakistan spinners, who bring a lot more variety with them in the form of Saeed Ajmal, Shahid Afridi and Mohammad Hafeez.Taylor said New Zealand had the advantage of having already played on the Pallekele pitch, which hadn’t exactly helped spin. “Hafeez and Ajmal have got very good records in the last 12-18 months,” Taylor said. “We have had an insight into the wicket and how it has played at different times. And the confidence from the way we played [against Bangladesh], we’ll hopefully take into that. We prepared really well for the Bangladesh game and I’m sure we’ll do the same against Pakistan.”Taylor was asked whether Pallekele, with its high altitude and largely cloudy climate, was better suited to New Zealand compared to the two subcontinent teams in their group. “I’m not sure,” Taylor said. “It didn’t spin as much as we thought it might. When you play a second time on it, it could probably spin a little bit more. We’ll have to wait and see.”Pakistan will be a much harder side to tackle compared to Bangladesh, according to Taylor. The last time these two sides met was also in Pallekele, during the 2011 World Cup, when Taylor heaved six after six into the grass banks beyond deep midwicket in a counter-attacking century after being let off twice by Kamran Akmal early.”Pakistan are a lot more experienced than Bangladesh. They’ve played very well in the last 12-18 months. They’ve got world-class players throughout their team. There are some areas we still need to work on from this match and hopefully we can improve on them come next match. I think there will be a few changes in a few areas as we are coming up against a different side.”One of those changes could be at the top of the order. While James Franklin was involved in a big partnership with McCullum, he wasn’t able to attack the bowling consistently. Taylor credited Franklin for batting sensibly, but was non-committal over whether the allrounder would open against Pakistan.”When you are sent up the order, I think you can go a bit too hard at times. I think he [Franklin] gave himself time. He is at his best when he gives himself a few balls and punches the loose balls and attack when you’re needed to. On his day, James can be the attacking one as well. You have got to be flexible and know your role in the team. Will he still open in the next game? We are not sure.”

John Inverarity, Australia’s national selector, has admitted the Champions League T20 is hindering preparations for the first Test against South Africa next month

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Oct-2012John Inverarity, Australia’s national selector, has admitted the Champions League T20 is hindering preparations for the first Test against South Africa next month.A large group of key players – Shane Watson, David Warner, Mike Hussey, Ben Hilfenhaus, Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Brad Haddin – are taking part in the CLT20 and it means those players will only have one Sheffield Shield match before the first Test.”It is anything but an ideal preparation,” Inverarity told . “You just have to do your best but having the Champions League where it is now is not in the best interests of good preparation for the first Test.”Although Australia’s top six is fairly stable after the tour of West Indies earlier this year, and is unlikely to change for the start of the South Africa series, the selectors are still trying to decide their best combination of fast bowlers. This is where the Champions League is adding to their problems by restricting the amount of red-ball cricket for Starc, Hilfenhaus and Cummins.Cummins is unlikely to feature before the third Test, at Perth, due to his lack of first-class cricket over the last year and worries about him breaking down. “For some time you will not see him play three Tests in a row,” Inverarity added.At this stage Peter Siddle, who is currently playing Shield cricket for Victoria, is the only nailed on member of the bowling attack although is expected to be joined by Hilfenhaus and Nathan Lyon, despite the offspinner’s tough start to the season for South Australia, which leaves Starc and James Pattinson vying for the third fast bowler’s spot.Pattinson took 6 for 32 in the recent Shield match against Queensland but Starc also has strong form behind him after a productive time with Yorkshire during the English season and an impressive World Twenty20 where he claimed 10 wickets at six matches.Inverarity said: “He’s been terrific. There is an advantage if you pick your best left-armer.”The other spot that needs to be decided on is who takes the wicketkeeper’s gloves. Matthew Wade is the man in possession, after playing against West Indies earlier this year after being called up to replace Haddin who had to return home, and hit a maiden Test hundred in the final match of the series in Dominica.However, Haddin started the season with 114 against Tasmania to put his name back in the frame. “We will be talking together on the wicketkeeping next week and that is one of the things we will be discussing,” Inverarity said.

Steven Finn will remain with the England squad and could be set to feature in the third Test against India after coming through unscathed in the England Performance Programme team’s match against Dr DY Patil Sports Academy

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Nov-2012Steven Finn will remain with the England squad and could be set to feature in the third Test against India after coming through unscathed in the England Performance Programme team’s match against Dr DY Patil Sports Academy. Finn will travel to Kolkata with the rest of the Test squad on Friday, meaning Stuart Meaker returns to the EPP party.Although Finn went wicketless from seven overs during the innings victory, he bowled with good pace and reported no discomfort. It had been expected that he would be sent home should any doubts about his fitness remain but he is now in contention to replace Stuart Broad for the Kolkata Test.Finn missed the first two Tests of the series after injuring his thigh during England’s opening warm-up match against India A. He subsequently aggravated the problem and had only bowled four overs on tour before being included in the EPP side. In the first innings he claimed 4 for 50 and his extra pace, carry and bounce could give England’s attack a different dimension on sluggish surfaces.Broad, who remains the fast bowler with the most Test wickets in 2012, has not added to his tally in two appearances against India and suffered from illness in the build-up to the Mumbai Test, which England won by ten wickets to square the four-Test series. Since July, Broad has taken 11 Test wickets at 54.00 and England bowling coach, David Saker, recently admitted that his performance in Mumbai “wasn’t up to scratch”.In the EPP match, Durham legspinner Scott Borthwick took six wickets on the final day, as the hosts were bowled out for just 87. Meaker, who was called up as cover for Finn at the start of November, again impressed by taking 3 for 8 in the innings-and-193-run win.Ian Bell will rejoin the squad in Kolkata, having returned to England on paternity leave, while James Tredwell has been added as cover for the senior spinners, Monty Panesar and Graeme Swann.

Nottinghamshire have told three of their England players – Michael Lumb, Alex Hales and Samit Patel – that they will not be able to pursue interest in taking part in the IPL next year

Andrew McGlashan21-Dec-2012Nottinghamshire have told three of their England players – Michael Lumb, Alex Hales and Samit Patel – that they will not be able to pursue interest in taking part in the IPL next year.The trio, who are all part of England’s current Twenty20 squad in India, had been keen to try and secure deals in the tournament which runs in April and May, therefore clashing with the start of the English domestic season. Of the three only Lumb has previous IPL experience with Rajasthan Royals and Deccan Chargers.It is by no means certain that any of them would have been picked up for the IPL although Hales has consolidated his England place this year with consistent scoring including a 26-ball fifty in the first T20 against India in Pune. On Thursday Hales was bought in the BPL auction, from which Lumb withdrew his name.Mick Newell, Nottinghamshire’s director of cricket, said: “We were very clear that we expected all of our players to be available to us as we would be severely weakened if we were to lose them for that period of time at that stage of the season.”The players asked me to consider releasing them to enable them to take part in the IPL but they are key members of the squad and I explained that we wouldn’t be able to allow them to take part.”Nottinghamshire’s stance continues the uneasy relationship between English cricket and the IPL. Although the county game has not seen an early-season mass exodus to India, it will be interesting to watch whether other counties take a lead from Nottinghamshire to try and protect their own interests instead of losing key players.Players fortunate enough to secure deals are understandably keen to take them up, but they can leave significant holes in the counties for the first six weeks of the season. Essex have previously had to cover for the absence of Owais Shah and Durham for Paul Collingwood.The tournament has also meant weakened international sides arriving for tours and players arriving at the last minute before a Test series. That is likely to happen again next season with New Zealand’s two-Test series clashing with the IPL.Nottinghamshire’s centrally contracted England players, Graeme Swann and Stuart Broad, would have their participation in any IPL deals that were offered decided by the ECB. Current central contracts have clauses allowing players a window to appear at the tournament, although last year that only impacted Kevin Pietersen and Eoin Morgan, subject to any fitness issues.Earlier this week MS Dhoni suggested that as England’s leading players are not available for the entire event it will make it difficult for them to earn deals with franchises.